


A Flame Unextinguished

by GuineaLana



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Short & Sweet, i attempted to write angst oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 09:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8440339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuineaLana/pseuds/GuineaLana
Summary: On the night that Beacon fell, where warriors clashed and sacrificed so much, there were no victors.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I just wanted to write something quick because the beginning of Vol 4 struck a particular cord with me! Anyway I've been quite busy with school but I am working on a momojirou fanfic so do please bother me about that. Also comments are ALWAYS welcome!

Cinder wakes with a jolt.

Pain. She felt a horrible, numbing pain in her side. Her arm. Her face.

She tries, at first, to understand where she was, but finds it impossible to focus on any single thought in her agony. Every possible foothold she finds amidst her confusion is lost to the stinging pain throughout her body. She was vaguely aware of one thing: she needed to find her strength. The strength to move. The strength to push through the pain and find answers.

She struggles for what feels like ages, finding nothing.

So Cinder stops fighting. For another long moment, she lays still in the dark. Awake - in a sense - but wishing she wasn’t. 

...And then she hears sounds. Footsteps? Yes. Somebody appears in the corner of her vision. 

The name Emerald pops up in her thoughts as she approaches. Her deep red eyes are filled with worry, a look unbefitting of the Emerald that she knew. She sets down a small cup at her side (Was Cinder lying on the ground?) and lifts a hand to examine Cinder’s wounds when they lock eyes.

Processing that Cinder’s eye is actually open, Emerald gasps - a sound distinct enough to make Cinder suddenly aware of the ongoing ringing in her ears.

“Cinder, you’re awake!” Emerald’s panic melted away, her expression replaced with relief. She immediately pulls Cinder’s right hand into her own and grips it tightly. Cinder feels a twinge of grief looking up at her.

“I thought-we thought- that you weren’t going to wake up. I- I saw you on the tower like this and I thought that maybe you had- “ Her voice breaks and tears threaten to spill from the corner of her eyes. Desperate to mend the situation, Cinder opens her mouth and asks Emerald to calm down. To her horror, only a strangled rasp escapes her throat. She tries again and fails, prompting Emerald to throw her hands up in protest. “Please don’t strain yourself! You need to rest.”

Cinder wants to try again, but Emerald’s voice puts her at ease. So for now, she lets the other woman tend to her silently. She wordlessly observes her movements, mesmerized by… she wasn’t sure what. The mixture of confusion and vague aching certainly wasn’t helping, but eventually, a realization came.

Cinder had been staring at Emerald with a single eye. Her arm tenses as she tries to reach up, but a hand catches her immediately.

Emerald stares back at her and nods. “It’s…gone. We couldn’t do anything for it. I’m sorry.”

Cinder wants to scream. The memories came flooding in, threatening to overwhelm her. Everything went perfectly. She defeated Ozpin. She decimated the Atlesian army. She toppled Beacon and every ounce of resistance. Then that girl showed up. In her greatest moment of triumph, fate had robbed her of her victory. 

And what had become of her now? The glory of conquest had passed while she was out. In the dust that settled, only a broken woman remained.  
She could only grit her teeth in anger. Anger at her weakness. Anger at fate’s cruel design.

Emerald’s touch on her arm anchors her back to the present. She hadn’t voiced any of her thoughts, but Emerald knew that she needed comfort. That she needed somebody to fall back on. It was an unspoken bond that they shared from their time working together. Emerald had been loyal to Cinder alone for so long that it was simply instinct to her. So Cinder takes Emerald’s hand into her own, and doesn’t let go.  
It had been a very long night for both of them. But in the silence they now shared, Cinder finally realizes:  


Emerald had saved her.


End file.
